My Friday at MAPIC

Didn’t they do well? The MAPIC Awards put on a great show (in part thanks to those charming chaps from Abercrombie – fully clothed this time) and congratulations go to: Desigual, Abercrombie and Fitch, Asics Amsterdam flagship, Eurovea, Galeria Echo and, of course, Personality of the Year, Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman of Geox.

Friday morning began with Qmatic keynote “Why shopping behaviour has an impact on your bottom line. Terry and his colleague Cameron McQuarrie put on a classy double-act playfully role-playing to illustrate how to map a consumer journey. A winning pair.

This year’s MAPIC wrap-up keynote speaker was James Brown, Head of retail research and consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle. While he didn’t put on quite the same show as that other, rather more soulful James Brown (not once did he fall to his knees and have a satin dressing gown brought to him – somewhat disappointing) he was a fascinating speaker.

You’ll be able access the video of all three keynotes within days of the end of MAPIC. Meanwhile, I have a wrap-up of my own to offer. I spoke to Craig Mason, who has been at MAPIC all week interviewing participants for future installments of our Property Influencer series. He shared his impressions of the general mood of the week.

While this week’s Property Influencers agreed that there is a general slow-down in the market, and that it’s a challenging time, the consensus is that the market’s reaction is very different from that seen in 2008. There seems to be a general feeling that this is the new reality for Europe and that we have to go on with business as usual. Companies are pushing forward with expansion and development plans with “cautious optimism” – an expression that could almost be the MAPIC 2011 slogan.

Influencers cites Turkey, Russia and Poland as key areas for potential growth, and the powerhouses of retail – the UK, France and Germany – continue to lead the market. There was also much talk of innovation, with most agreeing that digital strategies are becoming increasingly important for bricks and mortar retail, and more and more companies looking to multi-channel approaches.

And, as the world gears up for the universal shopping spree that is Christmas, I leave you with the official (final statistics from MAPIC 2011 along with my own key figures for the week, all to be sung to the tune of a well-known carol. Enjoy!

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